CFCC student given award in soldier's memory

Tuesday

May 7, 2013 at 8:34 PM

Spc. Jocelyn “Joce” Carrasquillo, who was in the occupational assistant therapy program, was killed in Iraq.

By Brian FreskosBrian.Freskos@StarNewsOnline.com

Two months before his graduation from Cape Fear Community College's occupational therapy assistant program, the National Guard called up Spc. Jocelyn “Joce” Carrasquillo to help with the war effort in Iraq. Two weeks into his deployment, a roadside bomb ripped through his truck west of Baghdad. He died a couple of weeks shy of his 29th birthday. That happened in 2004. But his memory lives on, enshrined in mind, monument, and soon, many hope, scholarship. The college on Tuesday presented the first Jocelyn Carrasquillo Award of Honor to student Nathan Bageant in recognition of his outstanding performance and passion for the field of occupational therapy. Jennifer Renshaw, director of the program, said the award will be presented annually with the goal of eventually making it a scholarship. The presentation unfolded during a pinning ceremony honoring the 21 students who this year will graduate with associate degrees in occupational therapy assistance, and was one of four awards handed out to students in praise of their achievements. Carrasquillo's brother, Luis, who delivered remarks to the audience gathered in the BB&T Auditorium at the college's north campus, called the occasion “emotional.” Following his death, his co-workers at Sam's Club erected a memorial behind the store off College Road. Plans for a monument honoring him and his fallen comrades took shape across from the National Guard Armory in Wilmington.The roots of Carrasquillo's interest in the military date back to his birth, in 1975 at Peace Air Force base in New Hampshire. He grew up the son of a Vietnam veteran and Air Force captain. His enthusiasm for therapy developed much later, while working with disabled children at a facility just prior to moving to the Wilmington area. He later enrolled at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where a professor noticed what she described as the ease with which he cared for others, and urged him to take occupational therapy assistant classes at Cape Fear. Between classes, he volunteered running bingo games and doing other work at the New Hanover County Senior Resource Center.“It was a good fit for him,” said his best friend and roommate at the time, Chad Clark, who also attended Tuesday's ceremony. “He constantly just strived every day to go the extra mile and do what it takes to get those grades.”Friends once described Carrasquillo as something of a ladies' man and a magnet on the dance floor. But his No. 1 woman was his mother, Isabel. She also was present Tuesday. Carrasquillo's drive and ambition carried him through tough times, his brother said. Joining the National Guard earned him money for school and, his brother said, smiling, the BMW he wanted to buy after returning. He carried a cut-out newspaper ad featuring the car in his wallet during the deployment.